Prison Break ended a four-season run on FOX last night, playing to just 3.33 million viewers in its action-packed finale. That number notwithstanding (nor the fact that the journey to get there required viewers to suspend all disbelief along the way), it was a fond farewell to a show that was once upon a time a really unique and well-executed concept.

If you haven't seen the ending, now would be a good time to stop reading. For the rest of you, I first feel the need to admit that it's been a while since I'd seen this show. Not long enough to forget all this crazy Scylla business, mind you, though I had no idea Michael and Lincoln's mother was back in the picture and that she was (dun dun dun!) working with The Company.

And while I'm in the midst of revelations, I'll also confess to having breezed through most of the shootings, stabbings, kidnappings, fist fights and whatever else may have happened in these final two hours in favor of jumping right to the end. Conclusion? Ridiculously happy to see Kellerman again, but could have done without the overly dramatized final five minutes, which played out like some sort of slow-motion ad for Kleenex.

But in the end, I love that Michael chose not to run anymore. The decision was made with a finality that allowed other (less guilty) people to live. And the closing moment, in which Sara and her son left flowers and an origami crane on Michael's grave was altogether bittersweet, but necessary. Simply put, there was no other way to end the series in a show often filled with self-loathing and heavy regret from its main protagonist. In some weird, twisted way it really was a happy ending.

Author's Note: Look for the two-hour, direct-to-DVD Prison Break prequel due out July 28.